The first-year starter threw for 4,322 yards and 43 touchdowns while leading ‘Bama to a 12-1 record this year. Young also ran for three scores.
Should Young win the stiff-armed posed trophy, the honor would give Alabama back-to-back Heisman winners. Last year, Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith was recognized as the game’s best via a virtual ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, Young was asked about the potential of being the first Alabama QB to win the award: “To follow the great quarterbacks that we’ve had and to have this opportunity, it’s a huge blessing and something I don’t take for granted.
“It’s not just me. It takes all my teammates. It takes the coaches. It takes this environment, just everybody that’s involved.”
Who else is in it with a shot?
Pitt’s Pickett was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) Player of the Year, leading the Panthers to the school’s first ever ACC Championship title last Saturday.
Pickett — who broke famed Panthers quarterback Dan Marino’s team record for career touchdown passes (81) — threw for 4,319 passing yards, 42 touchdown passes and ran for four TD’s while guiding the Panthers to an 11-2 record.
Pickett would join an exclusive Pittsburgh club with a win Saturday night: the Panthers’ famed running back Tony Dorsett is the only Pitt player to win the Heisman (1976).
Hutchinson’s 14 sacks this season set a Michigan school record. He set the mark in a phenomenal final regular season game against rival Ohio State, recording three sacks in the Wolverines victory. The senior was also named the game MVP following Michigan’s win over Iowa in the Big Ten championship game.
Should Hutchinson lift the 45-pound trophy, the defensive end would join fellow Wolverine Charles Woodson (1997) as the only other defensive player to win the award and would become one of four to lift the trophy: Woodson, Desmond Howard (1991) and Tom Harmon (1940).
Ohio State’s Stroud — a redshirt freshman who was a first-year starter for the Buckeyes in 2021 — threw for 3,862 yards and 38 touchdowns while leading the team to a 10-2 record. With Stroud at the helm, the Buckeyes’ offense ranked No. 1 in total offense, averaging 551.4 yards per game.
If Stroud’s name is called on Saturday night, he would be Ohio State’s eighth Heisman winner.
How is a decision made?
So who gets a vote to determine the winner?
Ballots were sent to 870 media members from across the United States to vote on the finalists. Additionally, every living, former Heisman winner receives a ballot — plus one overall fan vote is tabulated into the final tally.
Saturday’s announcement, will take place in-person at the Lincoln Center in New York and televised on ESPN, starting at 8 p.m. ET. and write their name into college football history.
